Latest Stories Tagged: China

Scientists studying penguins in the Antarctic have set up automated cameras to document the lives of the sea birds. Unfortunately, all that footage has to be categorized — and that's where you come in. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Air Force is smarting after an embarrassing blunder of reinforcing ISIS militants. And in China, the police were taking no chances with a group of ceremonial pigeons. Those stories and more, in today's Global Scan.

Reporter Mary Kay Magistad spent 20 years reporting on China, and says Hong Kong's ingrained culture of law and rights is too powerful for Beijing's normal methods of control to work. And that's in large part because Beijing has ignored the city's real opinions.

Hong Kong isn't just a city — it's the place where China was able to strike a long-awaited blow at the Western powers who subjected China to decades of colonial humiliation. That's how Beijing still views the city, and that powerful past means compromise on the current protests is all that much harder.

Hong Kong's "Umbrella Revolution seems to only get bigger as the days go by. At the center of the protests, demonstrators say they're not planning on leaving any time soon, even as their demands to Beijing remain unclear.

There might have been a lot of coverage of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, but the story barely made a blip in mainland China. Chinese government officials have tightly controlled reporting from Hong Kong, and even blocked Instagram for the first time.

Days after demonstrations began in the center of Hong Kong, tens of thousands of demonstrators are still in the streets despite the use of tear gas and pepper spray by the police. And, by all appearances, the pro-democracy protesters are settling in for the long haul.

Organizers of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have battled police throughout the weekend, saying officers used excessive force — including tear gas, pepper spray and batons — against peaceful demonstrations. But they also say demonstrations will continue.

NASA's Mars missions may not have been as cheap as the recent Indian mission, but their rovers and orbiters continue to provide stunning discoveries. Earlier this month, one of the rovers sent back a photo that seemed decidedly out of place: a round sphere, like a 16th century cannonball. Meanwhile, in India, women are being celebrated for their central mission in that country's Mars mission. And one man tries to smuggle 51 turtles into Canada, by taping them to his body.